Shanghai's cold brewed coffees set the standard

In Shanghai, your average local guzzles tea the way we Aussies put away coffee. But with a steady expat population and the city's ever-growing coffee-loving creative class, the bean is making strides against the leaf. But it's served with a twist — cold brewed for up to 24 hours.

The Shanghai cold brew movement can be traced back to Sumerian, a third wave coffee shop run by American David Seminsky. The Sumerian roasts its own beans; most are imported from Ethiopia, Kenya, Colombia, Mexico, and Guatemala, but some come from Yunnan province in southern China. The classic iced coffee, made from Balinese beans, is mixed with milk for a slightly sweet note and to cut the strength of the coffee itself. This is a good introductory cold brew. More seasoned palates can go right for the Nitro: 24-hour cold brew meets canister of nitrogen and carbon dioxide meets beer tap. The result is a strong, smooth cup of coffee that looks like Guinness, complete with creamy head.

Popular with Shanghai's burgeoning yoga and green juice set is Hunter Gatherer, one part trendy foodstuffs shop and two parts school canteen-style cafe. Its cold brew is made from ground beans that soak in cold water for 18 hours before being filtered. The coconut cold brew latte, though heart-stoppingly expensive at nearly $9, is a treat — coffee beans from Sumerian, vanilla simple syrup, and coconut milk. Sumerian coffee beans, coconut milk and apple and vanilla simple syrup. Also on offer is a plain black cold brew and one with milk and a splash of apple syrup. As they hardly cost less than the coconut option, though, you might as well go all out.

Its name stands for "all you need now", which may seem a bit presumptuous until you taste the coffee here. Though the expansive cafe's colour palette is black, grey, and white, a wall of floor-to-ceiling windows lets sunlight pour in. On cloudy days, light comes from Dutch designer Dirk Vander Kooij's Fresnel Lights, made from the transparent plastic of used compact discs. AUNN is a favourite of local hipsters and creative types who flock here to sit atop 3D-printed chairs at tables made from recycled materials. In a testament to AUNN's dedication to coffee, copper and halogen siphons and a towering and strangely beautiful cold brew press are on display. The mild but heady cold brew at AUNN comes in a cute little glass bottle complete with cap.